178 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



were not built down so nicely at the bot- 

 tom, there being more space between the 

 bottom of tiie sections and tlie bottom of 

 the comb. I noticed this more on account 

 of the dark bees having a reputation for 

 capping their lioney wliiter than tiie yel- 

 low bees, but it was the reverse this time. 



The dark hybrids and black bees seem 

 to work well on fall flowers, such as as- 

 ters, Spanish-needle, smart-weed, and 

 olher fall flowers. After the thistle was 

 out of bloom, there was but little difference 

 in the looks of the honey. 



There is always lots of timberland be- 

 ing cleared around here, as this was a 

 heavily limbered country, and these clear- 

 ings are mostly covered with thistle, be- 

 sides lots of swamp land with fall flowers, 

 and of course the bees have their choice. 



Now, as I have had the German or black 

 bees, the Italians in their purity, and also 

 the Syrian bees, and watched them closely 

 as to disposition, honey-gathering and 

 comb-building qualities, I much prefer the 

 best strains of Italians. The l)ees that 

 are my choice are, first, bees that are gen- 

 tle; second, bees that are industrious and 

 pay well in dollars and cents for their 

 keeping; and third, bees that are yellow 

 and three-banded, for beauty, as I am a 

 great lover of the beautiful. 



La Paz, Ind. 



The North American Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation will be held at Columbus, Ohio, on 

 October 3. Full particulars mav l)e had 

 of W. Z. Hutchinson, of Flint, Mich. 



Hard luck. 

 Bees have done so poorly the past few 

 years that some of the bee-papers are 

 having hard luck. lean say that the Api- 

 cuLTtuusT not only holds its own, btit is 

 gaining in subscriptions. 



Doolittle's book. 

 A copy of INIr. Doolittle's book on 

 queen-rearing has been received and will 

 be noticed as soon as I can flud time to 

 look it over. 



Queens by return mail. 

 Since August came in, we have shipped 

 queens by return mail. We can supply 

 nearly three hundred moi'e golden-yellow 

 queens, all of which are guaranteed to 

 produce line and beautiful young queens. 

 Those who choose now to renew their sub- 

 scriptions for 1889 can, by remitting $1.60, 



secure one of these ttne queens. This offer, 

 and the inducement to purchase queens 

 given under tlie head of "Introducing 

 queens," should be a sufllcient guarantee 

 of success and satisfaction. 



Special prices: During the balance of 

 the season So. 50 will purchase six selected 

 queens, and to each purchaser the Apicul- 

 TunrsT will be sent free one year. $10.00 

 will purchase twelve select queens and the 

 Apicultuuist one year. If these queens 

 are not as good as I claim for them, the 

 money will be returned on demand. 



A bad season in the west. 

 Western beekeepers seem to have had 

 hard luck the present season, the honey 

 crop having Ijeen a complete failure. Mr. 

 II. L. Taylor, of Lapeer, Mich., writes 

 that not even the brood-chambers have 

 any honey in them. The bees throughout 

 New England in 1887 were in just that 

 state, antl we know how to sympathize 

 with our western friends. The cause of 

 the failure of the honey crop at the west 

 has not been e.xplaiued to us. Probably 

 it has been too hot and dry in some places, 

 and too wet in others. Neither of these 

 reasons was the cause of the failure here 

 in New England in 1887. There was no 

 honey in the flowers, even when the 

 weather was favorable. Tliis may be the 

 trouble at the west. 



The Honey Harvest of 1888. 



There seems to be no doul)t about a 

 short crop of honey, if we may judge by 

 the reports given in another column from 

 prominent beekeepers in all pai-ts of the 

 country. The only effect of this will be to 

 drive some of those out of the business 

 wlio expected to t)ecome suddenly rich by 

 keeping l)ees, i)ut the old beekeeper will 

 not l)e in the least discouraged hy the fail- 

 ure of the crop of 1888. 



In response to inquiries regarding the 

 honey crop of 1888, the following replies 

 were received. 



Watcrboro, Me. 

 As near as I can estimate thirty-three 

 per cent of a crop with a good prospect 

 for fall honey. C. W. Cosrici.i.ow. 



Cherry Valley, X. Y. 

 Our crop of white honey is not to ex- 

 ceeil one-fifth of that of last season. The 

 buckwheat, or dark honey, is yet an un- 

 known (juantity, though the prospect is 

 good. J. E. Hetiikhington. 



